Luca Sburlati of Confindustria Moda says Italian fashion under attack from both China, the US

Luca Sburlati, president of Confindustria Moda, the Italian fashion producers’ association, speaking at the opening panel of the 30th Pambianco Fashion Summit in Milan, said that “Italian fashion is currently under attack, primarily from China. July figures by [Confindustria Moda’s] research office showed a 3% drop in [Italy’s fashion] exports, while imports grew 5%, driven by those from China, which increased 18%.”

Sburlati added that “this surge is mainly due to the flood of small (up to €150) parcel deliveries, worth €4.5 billion in total in 2024, which pay no customs duties or VAT and are silently swarming into our homes. The other attack is coming from the US, a double whammy of new tariffs and a weak dollar, as well as a strong push for local U.S. brands.” 

Sburlati said that, in order to respond to this two-pronged attack, “we need the government to intervene with a long-term, 10-year plan. The market has grown 8% annually in the last 30 years, but now the trend has reversed. We risk transforming [Italy’s] second-largest industry into another [problem case] like the automotive industry.”

With regards to fast fashion, Sburlati praised the Europe-wide team effort that culminated in Paris in September, when various national associations jointly demanded EU action to fight the phenomenon.

“A response came yesterday, and a new regulation is about to be approved, abolishing de minimis thresholds and setting tariffs on [all shipments]. In Italy, we called for measures similar to those adopted by France, where a law imposing a tax on parcel deliveries and banning misleading advertising was unanimously approved,” said Sburlati.

Sburlati noted that the Italian government is working to introduce measures against labour exploitation, and said that the textile industry’s adoption of extended producer responsibility measures would kickstart a new sector in Italy, specialised in regenerating both raw and processed materials.

“We hope that R&D tax credits for product sampling and prototyping will be introduced in the new budget,” said Sburlati, adding that “the [Italian] state has no money, but Italy ranks second in Europe for household savings. We must tap the resources of the major private and national insurance funds. Let’s offer small tax incentives to funds investing in Italian companies.”

Finally, Sburlati underlined that there are “major opportunities in high-tech textiles for the medical and aerospace sectors, which would compensate other sectors’ negative performances. €19 billion in revenue will be lost in the absence of a national strategic plan to exploit these opportunities.”